Economic theory and philosophy Books

Book SynopsisThe author of the acclaimed Marx at the Margins analyses the late Marx on Indigenous communism, gender, and anti-colonialism.

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Book SynopsisFew social scientific concepts have gathered so much attention and so many followers in such a short period of time as the concept of social capital. The purpose of this authoritative volume is to review the foundations for this fast growing field.The selected articles embed the concept in core theoretical work in economics, political science, sociology, development theory, and philosophy. Topics include: contemporary conceptual and philosophical foundations; forms of social capital; and the relation of social capital to both development and democracy.This collection will provide an insightful reference source to students and researchers alike.Trade Review'Ostrom and Ahn do us the great service of bringing together a varied, rich array of central works on social capital, many of which have been relatively inaccessible. The idea of social capital is still very much a work in progress, as these contributions from a broad array of disciplines demonstrate. Having this collection available will help focus further development of that idea.' -- Russell Hardin, New York University and Stanford University, US'As theoretical paradigms develop, there comes a time when they need careful synthesis, deep reflection and wise criticism. It is now that time for the arguments regarding social capital. Political scientists are fortunate that a scholar as pre-eminent as Elinor Ostrom, and her able student T.K. Ahn, have taken the lead in undertaking this task. They have pulled together a fine collection of essays and added an insightful and pedagogically sound overview. The collection is likely to find its place in the book bags of all scholars concerned with the contributions of this literature to our discipline.' -- Joe Oppenheimer, University of Maryland, College Park, USTable of ContentsContents: Acknowledgements Introduction Elinor Ostrom and T.K. Ahn PART I FORERUNNERS 1. Alexis de Tocqueville ([1840] 1945), ‘Of the Use Which the Americans Make of Public Associations in Civil Life’, ‘Of the Relation between Public Associations and the Newspapers’, ‘Relation of Civil to Political Associations’, and ‘How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Principle of Self-Interest Rightly Understood’ 2. Lyda Judson Hanifan (1920), ‘Social Capital – Its Development and Use’ 3. Theodore W. Schultz (1961), ‘Investment in Human Capital’ 4. Jane Jacobs (1961), ‘The Uses of City Neighborhoods’ PART II CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTUAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS 5. Mark S. Granovetter (1973), ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ 6. Mark Granovetter (1985), ‘Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness’ 7. James S. Coleman (1987), ‘Norms as Social Capital’ 8. James S. Coleman (1988), ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital’ 9. Vincent Ostrom (1980), ‘Artisanship and Artifact’ PART III FORMS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL 10. Ronald S. Burt (1992), excerpt from ‘The Social Structure of Competition’ 11. Robert D. Putnam, Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti (1993), ‘Social Capital and Institutional Success’ 12. Elinor Ostrom (1992), ‘Institutions as Rules-in-Use’ 13. Diego Gambetta (2000), ‘Can We Trust Trust?’ 14. Francis Fukuyama (2000), Social Capital and Civil Society 15. Partha Dasgupta (2002), ‘Social Capital and Economic Performance: Analytics’ [Revised and abridged version of: Partha Dasgupta (2000), ‘Economic Progress and the Idea of Social Capital’ PART IV SOCIAL CAPITAL AND DEVELOPMENT 16. Michael Woolcock (1998), ‘Social Capital and Economic Development: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis and Policy Framework’ 17. Francis Fukuyama (1995), ‘Social Capital and the Global Economy’ 18. Michael Woolcock and Deepa Narayan (2000), ‘Social Capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and Policy’ 19. Paul Collier and Jan Willem Gunning (1999), ‘Explaining African Economic Performance’ 20. Stephen Knack and Philip Keefer (1997), ‘Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation’ PART V SOCIAL CAPITAL AND DEMOCRACY 21. Robert D. Putnam (1993), ‘The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life’ 22. Robert D. Putnam (1995), ‘Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America’ 23. John Brehm and Wendy Rahn (1997), ‘Individual-Level Evidence for the Causes and Consequences of Social Capital’ Name Index

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Book SynopsisWhat does economics have to do with law? Offering a defense of the economic view of law, this book clarifies the relationship between law and economics.Trade Review"An interesting and lively introduction to the economic analysis of law... It lays out the principles and values of economic analysis of law, and then proceeds to illustrate and defend that approach in a lively and competent manner. It may not convince every reader that economics provide the key to understanding law, but it makes the case competently and energetically."--Joseph L. Smith, The Law and Politics Book Review "A thoroughly entertaining, creative, and provocative addition to the law and economics literature."--Choice "David Friedman is lively, cheerful, and a bit of a tease... Friedman's book is, in the best sense of the word, extremely dense... At the same time, he is cautious and does not try to prove too much. The evidence he provides is impressive and impressively presented."--John Griffith, Times Literary Supplement "[Friedman] explains what economics has to do with law and why it matters... Applying economics to law matters because it yields efficient outcomes. In a world of finite resources and a world in which the political process controls the distribution scheme, increasing the size of the societal pie will increase the size of the slice we all can expect."--Dennis J. Callahan, The Federal LawyerTable of ContentsIntroduction 3 1. What Does Economics Have to Do with Law? 8 2. Efficiency and All that 18 3. What's Wrong with the World, Part 1 28 4. What's Wrong with the World, Part 2 36 5. Defining and Enforcing Rights: Property, Liability, and Spaghetti 47 6. Of Burning Houses and Exploding Coke Bottles 63 7. Coin Flips and Car Crashes: Ex Post versus Ex Ante 74 8. Gaines, Bargains, Bluffs, and Other Really Hard Stuff 84 9. As Much as Your Life Is Worth 95 Intermezzo. The American Legal System in Brief 103 10. Mine, Throe, and Ours: The Economics of Property Law 112 11. Clouds and Barbed Wire: The Economics of Intellectual Property 128 12. The Economics of Contract 145 13. Marriage, Sex, and Babies 171 14. Tort Law 189 15. Criminal Law 223 16. Antitrust 244 17. Other Paths 263 18. The Crime/Tort Puzzle 281 19. Is the Common Law Efficient? 297 Epilogue 309 Index 319

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Book SynopsisFrom the best-selling author of The Death of Economics and Butterfly Economics, a ground-breaking look at a truth all too seldom acknowledged: most commercial and public policy ventures will not succeed.Paul Ormerod draws upon recent advances in biology to help us understand the surprising consequences of the Iron Law of Failure. And he shows what strategies corporations, businesses and governments will need to adopt to stand a chance of prospering in a world where only one thing is certain.Trade Review"'Engrossing and entertaining... A careful, comprehensible analysis of the limits of human rationality's ability to control the world.' Alasdair Palmer, Sunday Telegraph 'Gripping stuff.' Krishna Guha, Financial Times"

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Book SynopsisThis sweeping history of classical economics shows how the work ethic has been used both to oppress workers and to liberate them. Today''s neoliberalism offers an oppressive version of the work ethic. However, the work ethic also offers resources for reorganizing the economy on behalf of ordinary people--Trade Review'Hijacked is an important and fascinating book that tells the spellbinding story of the struggle between conservatives and progressives over the Protestant work ethic. Nobody matches Anderson's distinctive combination of historical, political, and philosophical insight.' Stephen Darwall, author of Modern Moral Philosophy: From Grotius to Kant'This critical examination of the Protestant work ethic and its evolution in social and economic theory outlines the challenges of preserving rewarding and purposeful work in liberal economies where free market capitalism has eroded both aspirations and capabilities, undermining the intrinsic dignity and meaning of work.' Richard Donkin, author of The History of Work'Most of us will spend a significant part of our lives at work. But work conditions differ radically and the working poor often face brutal and dehumanizing workplaces. In this brilliant book, Anderson uncovers the role of a skewed version of the work ethic in shaping these harsh conditions. This skewed version turned the values of industry, prudence, and frugality against workers, while leaving the predatory and idle rich off the hook. Not only does Anderson offer a subtle diagnosis of the origins of today's stigmatization and deprivation of the poor, but she offers creative ideas for reclaiming the work ethic in the service of democracy. Her superb analysis, connecting political philosophy with both history and political economy, will stimulate wide debate.' Debra Satz, coauthor of Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy, and Public Policy'As rigorous as it is approachable, this poignant plea for worker dignity contextualizes one of today's most salient economic issues.' Publishers Weekly'If we arm ourselves with Elizabeth Anderson's superb history of the work ethic, we obtain a powerful lens with which to explore at a perfect time - during party conference season - how different visions of work form the beating heart of ideological struggle.' Morning StarTable of ContentsPreface; 1. The dual nature of the Protestant work ethic and the birth of utilitarianism; 2. Locke and the progressive work ethic; 3. How conservatives hijacked the work ethic and turned it against workers; 4. Welfare reform, famine, and the ideology of the conservative work ethic; 5. The progressive work ethic (1): Smith, Ricardo, and Ricardian socialists; 6. The progressive work ethic (2): J. S. Mill; 7. The progressive work ethic (3): Marx; 8. Social democracy as the culmination of the progressive work ethic; 9. Hijacked again: Neoliberalism as the return of the conservative work ethic; 10. Conclusion: What should the work ethic mean for us today?; Acknowledgments; Major works cited; Notes; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first definitive introduction to behavioral economics aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. Authoritative, cutting edge, yet accessible, it guides the reader through theory and evidence, providing engaging and relevant applications throughout. It is divided into nine parts and 24 chapters: Part I is on behavioral economics of risk, uncertainty, and ambiguity. The evidence against expected utility theory is examined, and the behavioral response is outlined; the best empirically supported theory is prospect theory. Part II considers other-regarding preferences. The evidence from experimental games on human sociality is given, followed by models and applications of inequity aversion, intentions based reciprocity, conditional cooperation, human virtues, and social identity. Part III is on time discounting. It considers the evidence against the exponential discounted utility model and describes several behavioral models such as hyperbolic discounting, attribute based models and the reference time theory. Part IV describes the evidence on classical game theory and considers several models of behavioral game theory, including level-k and cognitive hierarchy models, quantal response equilibrium, and psychological game theory. Part V considers behavioral models of learning that include evolutionary game theory, classical models of learning, experience weighted attraction model, learning direction theory, and stochastic social dynamics. Part VI studies the role of emotions; among other topics it considers projection bias, temptation preferences, happiness economics, and interaction between emotions and cognition. Part VII considers bounded rationality. The three main topics considered are judgment heuristics and biases, mental accounting, and behavioral finance. Part VIII considers behavioral welfare economics; the main topics are soft paternalism, and choice-based measures of welfare. Finally, Part IX gives an abbreviated taster course in neuroeconomics.Trade ReviewIt is many years since the subject of African economic development has been treated with the best insights and methods that modern social science has to offer. Cramer, Sender, and Oqubay have set a new standard in this respect. * David Booth, African Affairs *The publication of this book is a landmark occasion for the field of behavioural economics. Until now there has been no comprehensive survey of the field suitable for graduate students. Professor Dhami has thoroughly and rigorously filled that gap. The book will be placed in a handy place in my office since I plan to consult it regularly. * Richard H. Thaler, University of Chicago *The Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis offers a fascinating mix of theory and evidence and is the most comprehensive synthesis of behavioral economics at an advanced level. It will be very useful for advanced researchers as well as for graduate students in behavioral economics and beyond. * Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich *This book is a tour de force, a literal encyclopedia of behavioral economics. Its extraordinary breadth and depth, spanning all aspects from psychological foundations to the most recent advances and seamlessly integrating theory with experiments, will make it the must-have reference for anyone interested in this field, and more generally in where economics is headed. It will quickly become the standard textbook for all graduate courses in behavioral economics, and a much-thumbed companion for all researchers working at the frontier. * Roland Benabou, Princeton University *For someone like myself, who started by being ignorant of the richness of the conversation within behavioral economics on a variety of issues, this magisterial volume is the ideal introduction, at once lucid and sophisticated. * Abhijit Banerjee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology *In Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis, Sanjit Dhami offers the first summary and exposition of research in this rapidly growing and increasingly influential subfield. The coverage is comprehensive, extending even to the recent subtopics of behavioural welfare economics and neuroeconomics. The book is distinguished by its detailed yet readable coverage of theory and evidence and its balanced discussion of the philosophical and methodological differences and similarities between behavioural and neoclassical approaches to microeconomics. Select undergraduates, graduate students, and interested scholars will all gain from this masterful book. * Vincent P. Crawford, University of Oxford and University of California, San Diego *Economic theory in the twentieth century developed an extremely powerful repertoire of analytical techniques for studying human behavior.Sanjit Dhami has performed a monumental task in consolidating this research and explaining the results in a rigorous yet accessible manner, while highlighting major controversies and sketching the central research questions facing us today. * Herbert Gintis, Santa Fe Institute *In the development of any field there comes a moment where the results already established must be synthesized, explained and consolidated both for those in the field and those outside. In this amazing volume Sanjit Dhami has done just that and far more. This book will serve as an encyclopedic must-have reference for anyone seeking to do work in this field or just curious about it. The coverage is exhaustive and the exposition extremely clear and at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and professionals. This is truly an achievement. * Andrew Schotter, New York University and Center for Experimental Social Science *Displaying wit and wisdom, in Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis Professor Dhami conveys both the substance and the excitement of the burgeoning field of behavioral economics. This remarkable volume will serve as a reference for practitioners and a compelling entry-point for the curious. * George Loewenstein, Carnegie Mellon University *This is a unique and truly remarkable achievement. It is a magnificent overview of behavioral economics, by far the best there is, and it should define the field for at least a generation. But it is much more than that. It is also a brilliant set of original discussions, with pathbreaking thinking on every important topic. An invaluable resource for policymakers, students, and professors - and if they want to try something really special, for everyone else. * Cass Sunstein, coauthor of Nudge and Founder and Director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy, Harvard Law School *The expansion of behavioral economics during the past twenty years has been remarkable, much of it concerning strategic interaction and using tools from game theory. Sanjit Dhami's amazing book summarizes - and even defines - the field, broadly as well as in depth. His coverage of theory as well as of experiments is superb. The Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars who wish to understand where the action is. * Martin Dufwenberg, University of Arizona *Sanjit Dhami's Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis is a major and most impressive achievement. It provides an exhaustive account and a masterful synthesis of the state of the art after more than three decades of behavioral economics. For many years to come it will be an indispensable reference for researchers in economics and psychology, and it is bound to become the standard text in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on behavioural and experimental economics. * Klaus M. Schmidt, University of Munich *This is the most complete and stimulating book on behavioral economics. With elegance and unprecedented elaborateness, it ties together a wealth of experimental findings, rigorous theoretical insights and exciting applications across all relevant fields of behavioral research. Sanjit Dhami's work has been shaped by numerous comments from the leaders in the field. Now, in the years to come, it will be the standard that shapes how the next generation of students and researchers think about behavior and its science. * Axel Ockenfels, University of Cologne, Speaker of the Cologne Excellence Center of Social and Economic Behavior *This book covers all relevant theoretical aspects of behavioral economics in great depth. A great strength is its comprehensiveness: it covers the whole field. The book thus is unique in bringing to the fore the unity and diversity of the behavioral approach. The material is well-organized and accessible to a wide audience. It is invaluable to anyone teaching or studying any topic in behavioral economics, showing how the topic fits into the whole. * Peter Wakker, Erasmus University Rotterdam *Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis will be a central textbook for behavioral economics. One key feature is its appealing focus on the interplay between theory and evidence. For researchers, it will be a great source of information, puzzles, and challenges for the many years to come. It is a major achievement. * Xavier Gabaix, New York University, Stern School *Sanjit Dhami has spent more than 10 years on the monumental task to lay out the foundations of behavioral economics. The result is a major achievement. The book provides a comprehensive and encompassing survey and I think it will shape how the next generation of researchers thinks about the field. Overall, this is an excellent book that can be commended to advanced students of behavioural economics and to non-behavioural economics who are looking for an entry point into the field. It will also serve researchers in behavioural economics as an authoritative reference book. It is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in the field. * Jean-Robert Tyran, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics *The Foundations of Behavioural Economic Analysis is a major contribution to the contemporary economic studies in the areas of behavioural economics, psychology and game theory. It will remain as a major treatise on behavioural economics for many decades. I cannot think that another book will supersede this book in terms of rigour, comprehensiveness, and analytical sophistication in the foreseeable future. This book is also a very interesting and extremely useful publication for academic analysis, policy design and practical applications. * Professor.Sardar M. N.Islam, Victoria University *Almost all the chapters follow a basic structure: they sketch the neoclassical theory; review evidence on its empirical plausibility; introduce alternative behavioral theories; finally go on to discuss further evidence of the newer theories' relative successes and failures compared to the neoclassical theories. A lot of thought has gone into writing the introductions of each section as they outline the broad trends, debates, and core empirical results, making it easy to get into the detailed chapters with a clear idea of the direction of research in that topic.To sum it up, the book ends up doing exactly what it promised, take stock of behavioral economicscourse text for advanced students.., a research handbook for behavioral economists, and an invitation to economists and other social scientists of all persuasions to explore this exciting new field. * Utteeyo Dasgupta, Studies in Microeconomics *Table of ContentsPART I: BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS OF RISK, UNCERTAINTY, AND AMBIGUITY; PART II: OTHER-REGARDING PREFERENCES; PART III: BEHAVIORAL TIME DISCOUNTING; PART IV: BEHAVIORAL GAME THEORY; PART V: BEHAVIORAL MODELS OF LEARNING; PART VI: EMOTIONS; PART VII: BOUNDED RATIONALITY; PART VIII: BEHAVIORAL WELFARE ECONOMICS; EXERCISES; PART IX: NEUROECONOMICS; APPENDIX ON GAME THEORY

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Book SynopsisStocks and bonds? Real estate? Hedge funds? Private equity? If you think those are the things to focus on in building an investment portfolio, Andrew Ang has accumulated a body of research that will prove otherwise. In his new book Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing, Ang upends the conventional wisdom about asset allocation by showing that what matters aren''t asset class labels but the bundles of overlapping risks they represent. Making investments is like eating a healthy diet, Ang says: you''ve got to look through the foods you eat to focus on the nutrients they contain. Failing to do so can lead to a serious case of malnutrition-for investors as well as diners. The key, in Ang''s view, is bad times, and the fact that every investor''s bad times are somewhat different. The notion that bad times are paramount is the guiding principle of the book, which offers a new approach to the age-old problem of where do you put your money? Years of experience, both as a finance professor and as a consultant, have led Ang to see that the traditional approach, with its focus on asset classes, is too crude and ultimately too costly to serve investors adequately. He focuses instead on factor risks, the peculiar sets of hard times that cut across asset classes, and that must be the focus of our attention if we are to weather market turmoil and receive the rewards that come with doing so. Optimally harvesting factor premiums-on our own or by hiring others-requires identifying your particular set of hard times, and exploiting the difference between them and those of the average investor. Clearly written yet chock-full of the latest research and data, Asset Management will be indispensable reading for trustees, professional money managers, smart private investors, and business students who want to understand the economics behind factor risk premiums, harvest them efficiently in their portfolios, and embark on the search for true alpha.Trade ReviewThe phrases "finance textbook" and "page-turner" rarely occupy the same sentence or even the same paragraph, but Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing justifies that pairing of terms. * William J. Bernstein, co-principal at Efficient Frontier Advisors Reviewed by CFA Institute *This splendid book lays out the important lessons that a new generation of finance research has learned about markets and investing, in a thoughtful and accessible way. Ang focuses on real issues for real players, and distills practical lessons about investment strategies and the investment process. * John H. Cochrane, The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business *Andrew Ang's inspirational book presents new, important, and influential concepts on investment. He oozes enthusiasm for his subject, and generously shares his experience of putting cutting-edge ideas into practice. Elroy Dimson, London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business SchoolEvery professional asset manager should read Ang's Asset Management, easily the most thoughtfully written, accessible, and carefully researched treatment of the topic. Each chapter is an expertly guided tour. Darrell Duffie, Graduate School of Business, Stanford UniversityAndrew Ang eloquently synthesizes current research on investing together with his own approach to asset management into a highly readable and authoritative book. It is simply the best new book on asset management that I have read - approachable by non-specialists and a treasure for managers and scholars already familiar with the topic. This book is an essential guide to one of the world's most important topics. * William N. Goetzmann, Yale School of Management *It is no surprise that many of us have been using the unfinished chapters of Andrew Ang's Asset Management for teaching. For over 10 years, there has been glaring lacuna when it comes to textbooks for the teaching of investment finance. Andrew's book fills this void and is destined to become the standard text in investments at top graduate schools. It will also be a must-read for practitioners of investment finance. * Campbell R. Harvey, Duke University Journal of Finance (2006-2012) *This book is a comprehensive, accessible, and adept exposition of the pivotal role played by factor exposures in markets and in portfolio design. Ang shows how these principles can be used to guide both individual investors as well as institutions, and financial practitioners now have a must read source for this critical material. Steve Ross, Sloan School, MITAndrew Ang has written the next comprehensive 'go to' book on asset management. He treats readers gently as he takes them through the potentially technical world of factor investing, and his generous use of 'real world' case studies gives a helpful intuitive dimension his explanations. All considered, this is a 'must read' book for all asset owners and managers who want to maintain their thought-leadership edge. * Keith Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus, International Centre for Pension Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto *The last time I was asked to comment on a book of this quality and applicability I threatened to harm the author for potentially putting me out of a job. I repeat the threat in this case. * Cliff Asness, Founder, Managing Principal, and Chief Investment Officer, AQR Capital Management *As Andrew Ang knows, the best way to achieve good investment results is to get the portfolio structure right for each client and the key to that is systematic factor investing. Charles D. Ellis, author of Winning the Loser's GameDespite its title, this is much more than a textbook on asset management. Andrew Ang writes in an engaging style that cites his extensive investment experience, without giving up any of the rigor that we would expect from such a prominent academic. * Roger G. Ibbotson, Chairman of Zebra Capital Management and Professor in Practice Emeritus, Yale School of Management *Professor Ang is leading the factor investing revolution. Written with great clarity and authority, Asset Management is a true pleasure to read. * Knut Norheim Kjaer, Founding CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management and Co-founding Partner of Trient Asset Management *Andrew's new book is a useful practitioner-oriented update of the developments in asset management in recent decades. For example, assets are seen as bundles of factors, the fundamental drivers which provide the 'nutrients' that drive returns. This framing is certainly helpful in understanding recent developments in the industry. Moreover, the cases which motivate each chapter very nicely tie together the theory and the practice. * Bob Litterman, Chair of the Risk Committee at Kepos Capital, a hedge fund based in New York *Table of ContentsPreface: Asset Management ; Part I: The Asset Owner ; Chapter 1: Asset Owners ; Chapter 2: Preferences ; Chapter 3: Mean-Variance Investing ; Chapter 4: Investing for the Long Run ; Chapter 5: Investing Over the Life Cycle ; Part II: Factor Risk Premiums ; Chapter 6: Factor Theory ; Chapter 7: Factors ; Chapter 8: Equities ; Chapter 9: Bonds ; Chapter 10: Alpha (and the Low Risk Anomaly) ; Chapter 11: <"Real>" Assets ; Chapter 12: Tax-Efficient Investing ; Chapter 13: Illiquid Assets ; Chapter 14: Factor Investing ; Part III: Delegated Portfolio Management ; Chapter 15: Delegated Investing ; Chapter 16: Mutual Funds and Other 40-Act Funds ; Chapter 17: Hedge Funds ; Chapter 18: Private Equity ; Afterword: Factor Management ; Appendix: Returns ; Acknowledgements ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThorstein Bunde Veblen (1857-1929) was an American economist and sociologist. Educated at Carleton College, Johns Hopkins University and Yale University, his most famous work, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), from which this selection is taken, is a satiric look at American society. He coined the widely used phrases "conspicuous consumption" and "pecuniary emulation".

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Book SynopsisA new and radical reexamination of today''s neoliberalist “new economy” through the political lens of the debtor/creditor relation."The debtor-creditor relation, which is at the heart of this book, sharpens mechanisms of exploitation and domination indiscriminately, since, in it, there is no distinction between workers and the unemployed, consumers and producers, working and non-working populations, between retirees and welfare recipients. They are all ''debtors,'' guilty and responsible in the eyes of capital, which has become the Great, the Universal, Creditor."—from The Making of the Indebted ManDebt—both public debt and private debt—has become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In The Making of the Indebted Man, Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx''s lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies.Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of “public safety” through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations. To insure that we honor our debts, we are at once encouraged and compelled to become the “entrepreneurs” of our lives, of our “human capital.” In this way, our entire material, psychological, and affective horizon is upended and reconfigured.How do we extricate ourselves from this impossible situation? How do we escape the neoliberal condition of the indebted man? Lazzarato argues that we will have to recognize that there is no simple technical, economic, or financial solution. We must instead radically challenge the fundamental social relation structuring capitalism: the system of debt.

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Book SynopsisElgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. This Advanced Introduction presents a focused narrative about political decision-making based on the work that has defined public choice as a discipline. Randall G. Holcombe emphasizes the theoretical foundations of Public Choice, examining the way that voter preferences are aggregated through democratic decision-making, the way that political exchange leads to the production of public policy, and the way that the constitutional framework within which political activity takes place is designed. He provides a concise discussion of the main models of Public Choice in an engaging manner, giving readers a foundation for understanding the theoretical and empirical work in the field. Each chapter ends with a Notes section that discusses the research on which the chapter is based, with an emphasis on the pioneering work that has shaped the development of Public Choice.Undergraduate and graduate level students in economics, political science and public administration will find this introduction an essential resource for understanding political decision making. Instructors in those fields will find this book a useful and affordable text and an indispensable resource for teaching Public Choice.Trade Review'In this slim volume, Randall Holcombe takes the reader masterfully on an informative journey through the main regions of public choice theory. Among the topics this fine volume covers are voting theory, presidential vs. parliamentary systems, interest groups, bureaucracy, political entrepreneurship, and constitutional political economy. Someone who works through this book will be solidly prepared to venture into the higher reaches of public choice theory.' --Richard E. Wagner, George Mason University'Robert Kennedy said that ''Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.'' This is a book for both kinds of people. Holcombe provides a hard-headed analysis of how government and politics actually works, and careful analysis of why the dreams for optimal outcomes, whether coming from the formal models of supposedly sophisticated economists, (based on ''as if'' assumptions that exclude politics), or those coming from idealist ''reformers'' (stemming from their utopian visions), end up shattered by harsh behavioral and institutional realities. Written in a completely non-technical fashion, and covering topics like rational ignorance, rent-seeking and regulatory capture, this book works beautifully either as a complement to traditional introductory economics courses, or to introductory courses in political science.' --Bernard Grofman, University of California, Irvine'The author has extensive personal connections to all the aspects of public choice, and has produced a masterful volume. The insights of public choice are varied, but its explanatory power is consistent. Holcombe manages to weave together an interesting and informed commentary on the many strands of public choice scholarship in a way that will be useful even to experts, while providing an overview that a determined newcomer will be able to pick up immediately.' --Michael Munger, Duke UniversityTable of ContentsContents: Part I: Introduction 1. Public Choice and Public Policy Part II: Aggregating Voter Preferences 2. The Politics of Left and Right 3. Institutions: Proportional vs. Plurality; Parliamentary vs. Presidential 4. Political Strategy: Turnout and the Distribution of Preferences 5. Multidimensional Issue Space 6. Why Do People Vote? Rational Ignorance, Expressive Voting, Rational Irrationality Part III: Designing Public Policy 7. Transaction Costs and Political Exchange 8. Political Markets: Interest Groups, Rent-Seeking, and Regulatory Capture 9. Bureaucracy 10. Political Organization: Districts, Committees, and Institutional Design 11. Political Entrepreneurship Part IV: Constitutional Design 12. Constitutional and Post-Constitutional Decision-Making 13. Interest Groups and Constitutional Evolution 14. Checks and Balances: Elites and Masses Index

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Book SynopsisMilton Friedman was lauded as the grandmaster of free-market economic theory in the postwar era. This book collects many of Friedman's papers on topics in economics that were published in the "Journal of Political Economy". It incorporates papers from 1948 to 1990. It is useful for those tracing the course of 20th century economics and politics.Trade Review"There are very few people over the generations who have ideas that are sufficiently original to materially alter the direction of civilization. Milton Friedman is one of those very few people." - Alan Greenspan"

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Book SynopsisAs the first comprehensive treatment of Classical economics from a modern Austrian perspective, this important history of nineteenth century economic thought discusses the key members of each school and reassesses their work. Professor Rothbard's approach offers new perspectives on both Ricardo and Say and their followers. The author suggests that Ricardianism declined after 1820 and was only revived with the work of John Stuart Mill. The book also resurrects the important Anglo-Irish school of thought at Trinity College, Dublin under Archbishop Richard Whately. Later chapters focus on the roots of Karl Marx and the nature of his doctrines, and laissez-faire thought in France including the work of Frederic Bastiat. Also included is a comprehensive treatment of the bullionist versus anti-bullionist and the Currency versus banking School controversies in the first half of the nineteenth century, and their influence outside Great Britain.Tracing economic thought from Smith to Marx, this book is notable for its inclusion of all the important figures in each school of thought and for assessing their theories in religious, political, philosophical and historical context. Economic Thought before Adam Smith, the first volume of Professor Rothbard's history of economic thought from an Austrian perspective, is also available.Trade Review'Rothbard's two-volume history of economic thought will inspire much fruitful discussion . . . Works that combine so much scholarship, clarity, freshness, and courage have become rare in economics.' -- Paul Heyne, The Independent Review'. . . the magnitude of Rothbard's achievement was such that his legacy is assured; his contribution to the cause of liberty in America will not only endure but continue to grow in stature. As an economist, he succeeded in firmly establishing the Austrian school of economics in America, expanding and refining the legacy of his own mentor, the great Ludwig von Mises.' -- Justin Raimondo, Chronicles'. . . an extraordinarily lively and provocative book. The world would be a poorer place without this stimulating and combative book. . .' -- D. P. O'Brien, The Manchester School'. . . it provides an extremely wide-ranging treatment of the periods and topics it covers. . . . this is a controversial book, written from a clear-cut standpoint. . . . an extremely exciting, even brilliant book.' -- Roger E. Backhouse, History of Economic Thought'To say that Murray Rothbard wrote with a polemical flair is an understatement of astonishing proportions. . . . The volumes are beautifully produced by Edward Elgar and anyone interested in Rothbard's thought, the history of economic liberalism, and the history of economic thought in general, will want these volumes in their personal collection. An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought is vintage Rothbard, which means that the volumes are very readable, always unique in interpretation. . . . In short Rothbard's An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought is a major contribution to the history of economic thought in general, and to Austrian economics in particular, and it deserves a wide circulation. It ranks with the contributions to intellectual history - not as a textbook of the wrong opinions of dead men, but as an original theoretical work whose intellectual story, if listened to, would surely overturn the received wisdom of our day and lead to a major recasting of the disciplines of economics and of political economy.' -- Peter J. Boettke, Economic Affairs'Murray Rothbard's two volumes are a monument of twentieth century scholarship.' -- David Gordon, The Mises Review'Rothbard's treatise makes a good case for the study of economic thought and provides a good introduction to Austrian economics by showing its links with earlier thinkers. . . friend and foe alike will benefit from Rothbard's atypical approach. His discussions of every thinker are enriched with insights on philosophy, history, religion, political movements, and the philosophy of science. The two volumes are jam-packed with information and research ideas.' -- Mark Thornton, Southern Economic JournalTable of ContentsContents: 1. J.B. Say: The French Tradition in Smithian Clothing 2. Jeremy Bentham: The Utilitarian as Big Brother 3. James Mill, Ricardo and the Ricardian System 4. The Decline of the Ricardian System, 1820–48 5. Monetary and Banking Thought, I: The Early Bullionist Controversy 6. Monetary and Banking Thought, II: The Bullion Report and the Return to Gold 7. Monetary and Banking Thought, III: The Struggle Over the Currency School 8. John Stuart Mill and the Reimposition of Ricardian Economics 9. Roots of Marxism: Messianic Communism 10. Marx’s Vision of Communism 11. Alienation, Unity and Dialectic 12. The Marxian System, I: Historical Materialism and the Class Struggle 13. The Marxian System, II: The Economics of Capitalism and its Inevitable Demise 14. After Mill: Bastiat and the French Laissez-Faire Tradition Bibliographical Essay

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Book SynopsisIn this series of essays, Ayn Rand presents her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the default of conservatism, and the evils of altruism.The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This is the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constitutes a major philosophic revolution. Here is a challenging new look at modern society by one of the most provocative intellectuals on the American scene.   This edition includes two articles by Ayn Rand that did not appear in the hardcover edition: “The Wreckage of the Consensus,” which presents the Objectivists’ views on Vietnam and the draft; and “Requiem for Man,” an answer to the Papal encyclical Progresso Populorum.

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Book SynopsisIn 1876, Carl Menger, then a young professor at the University of Vienna, was asked to teach the principles of political economy to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the 17 year old only son of Emperor Francis Joseph, who was to die tragically before he could inherit the throne.Rudolf's recently discovered Notebooks of these lectures, corrected by Menger, are a fascinating record of what the founder of the Austrian marginalist school thought worth teaching to the heir presumptive of a great power. Without referring to his own theories, Menger delivered a course on the economics of Adam Smith - as presented in the mainstream German textbooks of the time - in such a way that the Notebooks can be viewed as a key document on classical economic liberalism, pure and unadulterated. They cast new light on Menger's own theoretical discoveries, his view of government and his interpretation of classical economics. In this important volume Rudolf's Notebooks are published for the first time both in German and an English translation. The editor's detailed introduction provides the historical and intellectual background to the Notebooks as well as a thorough analysis of classical economics and its treatment by Menger. The text is fully annotated in German and English with its surprising sources traced passage by passage.Trade Review'This book will be of interest on a number of different levels. Most simply, it is a fascinating historical record of a pedagogical experience. . . . the Notebooks present the historian of economic thought, and those interested in the Austrian school in particular, with a number of intriguing, even frustrating puzzles.' -- Peter Lewin, History of Economic Ideas'. . . in all this volume provides a useful addition to our understanding of Carl Menger. The translation is very readable and the index is good. The Streisslers are to be commended for performing a real service to the scholarly community in editing and publishing this book.' -- Karen I. Vaughn, Journal of the History of Economic Thought

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Book SynopsisNewsweek hailed Paul Krugman as "a superstar among economists" and went on to praise Peddling Prosperity as "the best primer around on recent U.S. economic history." Others joined the chorus.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"John Campbell is one of the leading researchers and teachers in asset pricing. This remarkably clear and well-organized book is strong testimony to his expertise. I will use it often in my own research."—Kenneth R. French, Dartmouth College"John Campbell has given us the definitive course text on financial decision making and asset pricing. Every student and researcher in the field will want this masterful integration of decades of study on actual investor behavior and market equilibrium."—Darrell Duffie, Stanford University"John Campbell has long been a top researcher in the vibrant intersection of asset pricing and macroeconomics. This book provides an interesting and in-depth exposition of his take on the current state of this important area."—Eugene Fama, University of Chicago Booth School of Business"Written by a major contributor to the economics of financial markets, Financial Decisions and Markets is a comprehensive, insightful, and authoritative graduate-level introduction to asset pricing. This book stresses the interplay between theory, econometrics, and empirics, the hallmark of John Campbell's research. The critical analysis and problem sets stimulate readers to confront open questions at the research frontier. I plan to adopt this book in my PhD-level course."—George M. Constantinides, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Important and elegantly written."--Jason Zweig, Wall Street Journal "The End of Theory holds some important lessons for financial markets today... According to Bookstaber, it's time to stop tweaking a 150-year-old model that seems to be getting worse, not better, at predicting crises, and embrace something totally new. Finally, and perhaps most usefully, he challenges the economics profession itself, where too many experts still have way too much faith in their own mathematical infallibility."--Rana Faroohar, Financial Times "The analysis is top-notch, and anyone who wants to understand the workings of the financial system will benefit from reading this book."--The EconomistTable of ContentsI: Introduction 1 1 Crises and Sunspots 3 2 Being Human 14 II: The Four Horsemen 23 3 Social Interactions and Computational Irreducibility 25 4 The Individual and the Human Wave: Emergent Phenomena 34 5 Context and Ergodicity 40 6 Human Experience and Radical Uncertainty 50 7 Heuristics: How to Act Like a Human 65 III: Paradigm Past And Future 79 8 Economics in Crisis 81 9 Agent-Based Models 94 10 Agents in the Complexity Spectrum 108 IV: Agent-Based Models For Financial Crises 125 11 The Structure of the Financial System: Agents and the Environment 127 12 Liquidity and Crashes 144 13 The 2008 Crisis with an Agent-Based View 157 V: The End Of Theory 169 14 Is It a Number or a Story? Model as Narrative 171 15 Conclusion 185 Acknowledgments 191 Notes 193 References 211 Index 221

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Book SynopsisFrom blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, 'animal spirits' are driving financial events worldwide. This book aims to challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and puts forward a fresh vision that can transform economics and restore prosperity.Trade ReviewRobert J. Shiller, Co-Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics George A. Akerlof, Co-Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics Winner of the 2009 Book Award, getAbstract International Winner of the 2009 Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security, TIAA-CREF Winner of the 2009 Finance Book of the Year, CBN (China Business News) Financial Value Ranking Shortlisted for the 2009 Book of the Year, Financial Times//Goldman Sachs Business Featured on the Financial Times (FT.com)'s Books of the Year list Listed on Bloomberg.com in a review by James Pressley as two of "our favorite financial-crisis books this year." "Akerlof and Shiller are the first to try to rework economic theory for our times. The effort itself makes their book a milestone... And their book takes their case not just to economists, but also to the general reader. It is short (176 pages of text) and easy enough for laymen to understand."--Louis Uchitelle, New York Times Book Review "There is barely a page of Animal Spirits without a fascinating fact or insight."--John Lanchester, New Yorker "Akerlof and Shiller succeed, too, in demonstrating that conventional macroeconomic analyses often fail because they omit not just readily observable facts like unemployment and institutions such as credit markets but also harder-to-document behavioral patterns that fall within the authors' notion of 'animal spirits.' Confidence plainly matters, and so does the absence of it. When the public mood swings from exuberance to anxiety, or even fear, the effect on asset prices as well as on economic activity outside the financial sector can be large."--Benjamin M. Friedman, New York Review of Books "Animal Spirits [is] ... the new must-read in Obamaworld."--Michael Grunwald, Time "[Animal Spirits] really applies to all the big areas where we need change."--Peter Orszag, Obama budget director (quoted from Time magazine article) "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag is a numbers guy, a propeller head as President Obama would say. But as David Von Drehle and I write in this week's print version of Time, Orszag has been spending his time recently reading not about spreadsheets, but about psychology. In particular, he has been reading a new book by the economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller called Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives The Economy, and Why It Matters For Global Capitalism... We are, it turns out, slaves to the Animal Spirits. They have brought us to our knees. And now they are the only things that can save us."--Michael Scherer, Time.com's Swampland "In their new book, two of the most creative and respected economic thinkers currently at work, George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, argue that the key is to recover Keynes's insight about 'animal spirits'--the attitudes and ideas that guide economic action. The orthodoxy needs to be rebuilt, and bringing these psychological factors into the core of economics is the way to do it... The connections between their thinking on the limits to conventional economics and the issues thrown up by the breakdown are plain, even if they were unable to make every link explicit. Even more than Akerlof and Shiller could have hoped, therefore, it is a fine book at exactly the right time... Animal Spirits carries its ambition lightly--but is ambitious nonetheless. Economists will see it as a kind of manifesto."--Clive Crook, Financial Times "An influential Democrat who was also one of the world's top-ten, highest-paid hedge fund managers last year thinks he knows which book is at the top of the White House reading list this spring: Animal Spirits, the powerful new blast of behavioural economics from Nobel prize-winner George Akerlof and Yale economist Robert Shiller."--Financial Times "Akerlof and Shiller remind us that emotional and intangible factors--such as confidence in institutions, illusions about the nature of money or a sense of being treated unfairly--can affect how people make decisions about borrowing, spending, saving and investing. Animal Spirits is an affectionate tribute to the man [John Maynard Keynes] whose ideas, unfashionable for the past 30 years, have resurged."--Nature "Animal Spirits is a welcome addition to our Hannitized national economic debate, in which anyone who advocates government spending risks being labeled a socialist... Animal Spirits is most compelling when the authors summon all the key behavioral patterns to explain vast, complex phenomena such as the Great Depression... Animal Spirits ... [is] aimed squarely at the general reader, and rightly so: Macroeconomics is now everybody's business--the banks are playing with our money."--Andrew Rosenblum, New York Observer "[A] lively new financial crisis book."--James Pressley, Bloomberg News "The two superstars have produced a truly innovative and bold work that attempts to show how psychological factors explain the origins of the current mess and offer clues for possible solutions. At a time when plummeting confidence is dragging down the market and the economy, the authors' focus on the psychological aspect of economics is incredibly important."--Michael Mandel, BusinessWeek "What Sigmund Freud did for the study of the mind, George Akerlof and Robert Shiller are doing for economics. Freud, healer or fake--take your pick--built a career and a field of medicine on the idea that people are driven by irrational forces. Akerlof, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, and Shiller, the Yale economist who is the eminence grise of the housing meltdown, argue that massive government market intervention programs are the only way to turn fear into enthusiasm for spending and investing--the 'animal spirits' that are an essential part of recovery... Akerlof and Shiller pick up on the idea of the emotional impetus to investment. With elegant reasoning and lovely prose, they demonstrate that we'll all be wallowing in misery unless governments around world, especially the in the G7 nations, help to return markets to optimism... Animal Spirits is a fine discussion of the last few decades of development of economic theory, especially monetary economics."--Andrew Allentuck, The Globe & Mail "[T]his book is rather more than the usual lament about the failings of economics. Its authors are two of the discipline's leading lights... Most of the time, the unrealistic assumption of rationality serves economists fairly well. They should, however, be more prepared to depart from it, especially in times like these--even if that makes behaviour more difficult to describe in elegant equations. Messrs Akerlof and Shiller have therefore done their profession a service."--The Economist "With Animal Spirits we hone in on how incentives and narratives can be created to channel the human psychological factor into collectively healthy directions, and how to be aware of the fictions we tell ourselves about how we wish the world and greed and financial security worked. [Animal Spirits] sheds light on complex issues and leaves readers with a better grasp of undercurrents and--most importantly--a rediscovered belief in principles of common sense and caution."--Daily Kos "The new book from George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, Animal Spirits, has been getting a lot of press of late, and quite rightly: it's really good. It's not only very readable; it also offers a compelling vision of a very different type of macroeconomics--one where behavioral considerations are front and center, rather than simply providing what Clive Crook calls 'ad hoc modifications' to the standard, ridiculously oversimplified and unrealistic, model... [I]f you read only one book on this subject, make it Animal Spirits."--Felix Salmon, Portfolio.com "As George Akerlof and Robert Shiller show in a new book Animal Spirits, this is no freak storm. It may mark the long-awaited encounter between psychology and economics... Akerlof and Shiller's book is probably the first macroeconomic exploration of the subject that is accessible to those interested in the subject but who don't have the academic training to understand the detailed argument."--Mint "My book of the week is an easy one this time around: it's Animal Spirits, by Robert Shiller and George Akerlof... Admittedly, I'm biased as a fan of both Shiller's and Akerlof's. Believe me, however, when I say the blessedly brief Animal Spirits is a thoughtful and well-written look at how economics discarded psychology and lost its way on the trip from Adam Smith, through Keynesianism, to laissez-faire. The book puts the current crisis in a useful economic context, with consistent and practical selections from behavioral finance illuminating everything along the way... Highly recommended."--Paul Kedrosky, SeekingAlpha "Another contribution to the human-nature-ensures-economics-is-irrational school of thought. But, unlike many of the rants against people trying to make an honest profit, this is a measured examination of how the present crisis is explained in economic terms. And so it should be. George Akerlof is a Nobel prizewinner, Robert Shiller teaches at Yale and is the author of Irrational Exuberance, which should give you an idea of this one's approach. This fascinating work uses economics to explain real-life issues, such as real estate price cycles, to key policy problems, such as the relationship between inflation and employment."--Stephen Matchett, The Australian "George Akerlof and Rober Shiller's Animal Spirits is a plea to start believing our lying eyes rather than the model. Rather than try to explain away the apparent irrationality in human behaviour, Akerlof and Shiller say we need to try to understand it and shape policies that take it into account... The core message of Animal Spirits is that we should stop trying to cage the spirits and instead admit their central importance. Specifically, this means that world governments will need to intervene forcefully in the current economic crisis with both fiscal stimulus and direct measures to stimulate lending--to restore some of the confidence that the crash has sapped."--Matthew Yglesias, The National "In saluting Keynes' quip, Akerlof and Shiller argue that much of the story is in the unreliability and incompleteness of supposedly rational behavior--the micro-foundation of the free-market model. They contend that modern economics, even self-described Keynesian economics, has given short shrift to this core behavioral insight... Their best chapter is on the limited capacity of central banks to prevent or cure calamities."--Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect "Akerlof and Shiller take psychological research seriously, and it's refreshing to see that they're not trying to reinvent the wheel... The book is an interesting read and would probably be very useful for an undergrad class that needs an introduction to behavioral economics. A & S do a nice job of moving between the theoretical and the practical, the empirical and the implied. The writing is accessible and the topic is more than relevant to our current economic situation."--Orgtheory.net "Animal Spirits is succinct, clear and lively."--Brad Willis, Edmonton Journal "In an intriguing new book, Animal Spirits, US economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue that psychology plays a far bigger role in determining economic outcomes than economists realize--and that, broadly speaking, people get what they expect. If we think good times are ahead, we act confidently in a way that creates them. And if we expect a downturn ahead, we act defensively and unwittingly ensure that's what we get."--Tim Colebatch, The Age "The authors are right in pointing out the inadequacy of conventional economics in understanding, not to say addressing, today's economic woes, because they fail to take into account these animal spirits."--Wan Lixin, Shanghai Daily "[Animal Spirits] is a short, thoughtful and sometimes simplistic book that calls for a different vision of economics... Animal Spirits may well be a GPS system for a changing economic future."--Gene Rebeck, Delta Sky "Animal Spirits presents a rigorous case for the importance of 'confidence multipliers' and 'stories' in explaining recent market behaviour and of 'fairness' and 'money illusion' in preventing wages from falling in recessions to the market-clearing rate. Written in an accessible style, the book provides a very useful practical primer for policy-makers, practitioners and academics on many aspects of the current crisis. The authors also make a compelling theoretical case for macroeconomists taking more account of the role of non-economic motives and irrational responses."--Richard Bronk, The Business Economist "[T]he authors do a superb job of conveying the importance of bevaioural economics to a non-specialist audience. They increase our understanding of recent economic events and they show that animal spirits affect how governments should manage the economy."--Natalie Gold, Times Higher Education "Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits--the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today."--Money Science "[T]his very book seems to be one of the 'must-reads' in the Obama administration."--Andreas Ernst, JASSS "Ideologists are likely to dismiss this volume. However, for other readers--whether their perspectives are quantitative or qualitative--Animal Spirits may fill a troubling gap in existing investigations of the causes of booms and busts."--Thomas H. Wilkins, Investment Professional "Akerlof and Shiller's book is an interesting and thought-provoking attempt to understand how underlying human psychology drives the economy. The questions they pose and the examples they provide should be read by any economist seeking to better understand the differences between what economics predict will occur, and how people actually behave as individuals and within larger groups."--Dmitri Leybman, Midway Review "Animal Spirits, which attempts to leverage the insights of behavioral economics to reanimate the vision of John Maynard Keynes, is perfectly timed for the present moment."--Nick Schulz, Wilson Quarterly "Animal Spirits is exceptional in showing how economics can be accessible and relevant in dealing with this awesome challenge."--Irish Times "A reader would be right in thinking that Animal Spirits is an especially appealing but provocative appetizer that stimulates the interest of unorthodox and anti-orthodox economists everywhere to rewrite macroeconomics as if humans beings with their messy emotions, group dynamics, and all the rest really exist. Readers will also find Animal Spirits an invitation for society to ignore new classical economics in the interest of effective and decent economic policy."--Marcellus Andrews, Challenge "[T]he authors are ... [b]oth ... credited with a deep understanding of economic history, the history of economic thought, and today's global economic environment. That makes this book a 'must read' for anyone seeking insights into recent economic events and seeking ways of crafting government policies to prevent another similar economic downturn."--Jagadeesh Gokhale, Cato JournalTable of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 Part One: Animal Spirits Chapter One: Confidence and Its Multipliers 11 Chapter Two: Fairness 19 Chapter Three: Corruption and Bad Faith 26 Chapter Four: Money Illusion 41 Chapter Five: Stories 51 Part Two: Eight Questions and Their Answers Chapter Six: Why Do Economies Fall into Depression? 59 Chapter Seven: Why Do Central Bankers Have Power over the Economy (Insofar as They Do)? 74 Postscript to Chapter Seven: The Current Financial Crisis: What Is to Be Done? 86 Chapter Eight: Why Are There People Who Cannot Find a Job? 97 Chapter Nine: Why Is There a Trade-off between Inflation and Unemployment in the Long Run? 107 Chapter Ten: Why Is Saving for the Future So Arbitrary? 116 Chapter Eleven: Why Are Financial Prices and Corporate Investments So Volatile? 131 Chapter Twelve: Why Do Real Estate Markets Go through Cycles? 149 Chapter Thirteen: Why Is There Special Poverty among Minorities? 157 Chapter Fourteen: Conclusion 167 Notes 177 References 199 Index 219

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Book SynopsisEconomics is changing radically. This paradigm shift, the biggest in the field for over a century, will have profound implications for business, government and society for decades to come.In this groundbreaking book, economic thinker and writer Eric Beinhocker surveys the cutting-edge ideas of the leading economists, physicists, biologists and cognitive scientists who are fundamentally reshaping economics, and brings their work alive for a broad audience.These researchers argue that the economy is a ''complex adaptive system'', more akin to the brain, the internet or an ecosystem than to the static picture of economic systems portrayed by traditional theory. They claim it is the evolutionary process of differentiation, selection and amplification, acting on designs for technologies, social institutions and businesses that drives growth in the economy over time. If Adam Smith provided the inspiration for economics in the twentieth century, it is Charles Darwin who is Trade Review... A brilliant, thought-provoking and wide-ranging book ... anybody interested in understanding why we are where we are should read it. For me, it was more than the business book of 2006; it was the book of 2006 -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Beinhocker is nothing if not ambitious -- Sir Howard Davies, director of The LSE * The Times Higher Educational Supplement *An absorbing survey...[a] tour de force -- James Pressley * Bloomberg *Economic thinking has changed radically in the last fifteen years.Eric Beinhocker gives us a sparkling tour of the new ideas. -- Professor W. Brian Arthur, Santa Fe InstituteFor business readers and academics, Beinhocker is a zealous and able guide * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisThe substantially revised fourth edition of a widely used text, offering both an introduction to recursive methods and advanced material, mixing tools and sample applications.Recursive methods provide powerful ways to pose and solve problems in dynamic macroeconomics. Recursive Macroeconomic Theory offers both an introduction to recursive methods and more advanced material. Only practice in solving diverse problems fully conveys the advantages of the recursive approach, so the book provides many applications. This fourth edition features two new chapters and substantial revisions to other chapters that demonstrate the power of recursive methods. One new chapter applies the recursive approach to Ramsey taxation and sharply characterizes the time inconsistency of optimal policies. These insights are used in other chapters to simplify recursive formulations of Ramsey plans and credible government policies. The second new chapter explores the mechanics of matc

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAbrams’s book is the best, most insightful and comprehensive analysis of the modern-day efforts to manage schools like businesses. It is beautifully written and documented with careful research. -- Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School SystemAbrams describes eloquently the disconnect between the optimism underlying for-profit companies’ efforts to improve urban education and the realities that their schools faced. He also describes the history of KIPP charters, their accomplishments, and the limits of the KIPP model as a strategy for improving the life chances of urban children growing up in low-income families. -- Richard J. Murnane, co-author of Restoring OpportunityLucid, thorough, and balanced, Education and the Commercial Mindset is a riveting analysis of current education policy and how we got here. It will serve as an invaluable resource for policymakers involved in urban school reform. -- David Rogers, author of 110 Livingston StreetAbrams provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the private sector’s foray into public education. His analysis of Edison Schools, an educational management organization, demonstrates why private sector practices may easily be applied to purchasing scheduling software or contracting bus service, but why they cannot be easily applied to the management of schools where the purpose and process of education is much more complex and opaque. He also examines charter school organizations, the use of publicly funded vouchers for students to attend private schools in Chile and Sweden, and the application of business practices to schools in Finland. Altogether, Abrams makes a compelling case on the limits of private sector practices in public education. -- Russell W. Rumberger, author of Dropping OutGrounded in meticulous research in Finland and Sweden as well as the United States, Education and the Commercial Mindset is a bracing assessment of contemporary education reform and its consequences. -- Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish LessonsGiven the near-complete absence of public information and debate about the stealth effort to privatize public schools, this is the right time for the appearance of [this book]. Samuel E. Abrams, a veteran teacher and administrator, has written an elegant analysis of the workings of market forces in education in his book Education and the Commercial Mindset. -- Diane Ravitch * New York Review of Books *[An] outstanding book. -- Carol Burris * Washington Post *In Education and the Commercial Mindset, Abrams provides a detailed, informative and insightful account of the rise and fall of The Edison Project, as a case study of for-profit schools…Abrams demonstrates that for-profit schools have no incentives to consider long term educational or social goals. Obsessed with achievement metrics that might persuade consumers to purchase their product, they often exclude students with cognitive, emotional or behavioral problems. Or with failing grades…Running schools like businesses won’t solve the problem, Samuel Abrams makes clear. -- Glenn C. Altschuler * Huffington Post *In 1962, Raymond Callahan’s classic text Education and the Cult of Efficiency argued that the goal of efficient operations had become a first order priority in public education. Callahan’s work is now joined by a new definitive account, the brilliant book Education and the Commercial Mindset by Samuel E. Abrams...His arguments are exceptionally balanced, meticulously researched, and rooted in a deep understanding of the historical, cultural, and social antecedents of the widespread use of business practices and norms in education...Abrams has provided a thoughtful, critical, and rigorous explanation of crucially important distinctions that will be invaluable to scholars, policymakers, administrators, and teachers alike. -- Megan Tompkins-Stange * Teachers College Record *Education and the Commercial Mindset provides the most detailed and comprehensive analysis of the school privatization movement to date. Students of American education will learn a great deal from it. -- Leo Casey * Dissent *This is a book that all supporters as well as opponents of school choice and educational privatization should read, because the hypotheses and findings are expressed so convincingly that they may serve as a field trial for testing one's own opinions. -- Tommaso Agasisti * Educational Researcher *Essential to understanding the new challenges facing American politics, with the future of the education system being a central issue…Abrams not only offers a historical overview of the education system crisis under the Reagan administration, but also a reminder of the failure of privatization attempts in the 1990s. * Progressive Post *In recent years, several books have been published that explore the corporate influence on public education. Few are as in depth and as evenhanded as Education and the Commercial Mindset. * American Educator *

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Book SynopsisContemporary capitalism produces more and more money, debt, and inequality. These three trends have a common cause: the privilege of private banks to create money by means of accounting - by the stroke of a key. Why was this privilege not addressed politically for so long - and who benefited from it? At the heart of the answer lies the realization that the power to create money has been hidden by the way we commonly think and talk about capitalism. The book traces the omission of money creation from theories of capitalism and maps its consequences. By expanding the manoeuvring space for the banks to use their privilege, the capitalist countries have financed a transformation of the economy known as financialization. As a result, the real economy and private households became a debt supplier to a monetary system whose returns accumulate at the top. It is not simply "the markets" but money itself that transfers economic benefits from the masses to a minority. Increasing inequality of income and wealth can therefore only be combated if one does not only correct distributive results of markets-redistribution-, but addresses predistribution: the modalities of money creation.Trade ReviewIn the money-creation privilege of private banks, Aaron Sahr discovers a precarious mechanism of inequality reinforcement to which the regulation of capitalist economic activity has paid far too little attention to date. -- Hanno Pahl, University of Bonn, Germany * Neue soziologische Beiträge zur Kapitalismusanalyse: Ein Einblick. In: Soziologische Revue 42 (3), S. 405–417. DOI: 10.1515/srsr-2019-0050 *Sahr has successfully identified the structures that privilege so few and put so many at a disadvantage. The way in which the author presents these issues, unravels the connections and structures, and elucidates the illegitimacy of the money-production privilege adds up to an outstanding piece of sociological scholarship. -- Stefan Freichel * Monetative Blog *The uncontrolled creation of money by private banks should interest us all, because it creates a permanent redistribution from the poor to the rich, says the highly interesting 'Keystroke Capitalism'. -- Mathias Sonne * Information (Newspaper), DK *This book an accessible synthesis of a good deal of the literature, with interesting although by no means final political ideas. -- Wolfgang StreeckAaron Sahr's book provides a highly accessible synthesis of the state of knowledge on modern money and how it affects the political economy. Readers learn about the nature of fiat money and fiat credit and their contribution the financialization of contemporary capitalism, the conflicts it generates, and the consequences for the state and public policy. -- Wolfgang StreeckWhy and how did a company with a huge cash pile in the bank - Apple Inc - set out to borrow $17 billion in 2013? How did the world's billionaire class accumulate $418 trillion US dollars - an amount five times world income - in the blink of an eye? The answers can be found in this admirably accessible book on the way the globalised, private financial system generates 'keystroke wealth' and 'keystroke capital gains' - but also its nemesis - 'keystroke debt'. A must-read for all those fretting about the likely next crisis in the evolution of financialised capitalism. -- Ann Pettifor

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Book SynopsisNo economist has written more incisively and provocatively on financial crisis than Hyman Minsky. Minsky is best known for his claim that "stability is destabilizing" – that the seeds of the bust are sown in the boom. This financial instability hypothesis received renewed attention – and substantial confirmation – in the global financial crisis of 2008. Minsky's insights are not limited to moments of crisis; they grow out of a comprehensive and critical theory of financial capitalism. This book provides a systematic overview of Minsky's thought, covering his entire body of work. It shows how financial crises arise not as exceptions, but out of the normal operation of a financial capitalist system. It explains why Minsky's theories sit uncomfortably with economics and what efforts have been made to integrate them, and shows how Minsky's work can be incorporated into other fields of social thought. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in economics, political economy, finance, politics, and social theory, as well as to anyone with an interest in the financial system and its tendency toward crisis.Trade Review“Capitalism is essentially a financial system, said Minsky fifty years ago, and his thought laid the foundations for understanding how that system works. Reinterpreting Minsky for today, Neilson offers the best available introduction to Minsky’s thought for the modern reader.”Perry Mehrling, Boston University “Daniel H. Neilson’s book manages an extraordinary feat: the reader understands Minsky’s life and his system of thought in one book. You need to understand Minsky’s ideas to understand capitalism in the twenty-first century. This is the best book to help you do that.”Stephen Kinsella, University of LimerickTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 Financial Capitalism 3 A Payments Theory of Finance 4 The Inadequacy of Economics 5 Making the Market 6 Last Resort 7 The Resilience of Economics 8 Minsky for All Moments References

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Book SynopsisIn Not Just for the Money Professor Frey challenges traditional economic theory and argues that people do not act in expectation of monetary gain alone, nor do they work solely because they are paid. Furthermore, the author claims that higher monetary compensation as well as regulations crowd-out motivation in important circumstances. Offering higher pay may make people less committed to their work and may reduce their performance. They thus behave in exactly the opposite way the fundamental price-effect of economics predicts.The first part of the book considers the Crowding-Out Effect and the Motivational Spill-Over Effect. The second part explores a large number of applications to constitutional questions, various policy issues and the organization of firms. The final part discusses the substantial consequences for policy making and economic theory.This path breaking book is bound to create controversy and debate. It will appeal not only to economists but to a wide range of social scientists who want to go beyond the traditional assumption of economic man.Trade Review'What he [Bruno Frey] offers is both challenging and pervasive in its relevance. He is ambitious enough to aspire to make economics less presumptive and less general, but - as he himself observes - earlier efforts to integrate psychology into economics have been noted while precious little effect on economics as a whole. His book is provocative and interesting and likely to yield some further empirical efforts to measure putative crowding-out effects, but scepticism and inertia are likely to be difficult barriers to overcome.'Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction Part I: The Crowding-Out Effect 2. Everyday Experiences 3. The Psychological Background 4. Integration into Economics 5. Motivational Spill-Over Effect Part II: Applications 6. A Strict or Lenient Constitution? 7. Environmental Policy 8. Siting Policy, or: the NIMBY-problem (with Felix Oberholzer-Gee) 9. Social and Organizational Policy 10. Work Motivation and Compensation Policy Part III Conclusions 11. Consequences for Economic Policy 12. Consequences for Economic Theory References Index

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Book SynopsisPolitical journalist Michael Tomasky tracks an exciting change among  progressive economists who are overturning decades of conservative dogma and offering an alternative version of capitalism that can serve broadly shared prosperity to all.Engaging, briskly paced ... On balance, history appears to be on Tomasky’s side. —The New York Times Book ReviewIn the first half of the twentieth century the Keynesian brand of economics, which saw government spending as a necessary spur to economic growth, prevailed. Then in the 1970s, conservatives fought back. Once they got people to believe a few simple ideas instead—that only the free market could produce growth, that taxes and regulation stifle growth—the battle was won. The era of conservative dogma, often called neoliberal economics, had begun. It ushered in increasing inequality, a shrinking middle class, and declining public investment. For fifty years, liberals have not

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Book SynopsisToday''s global financial system bears little resemblance to what it was at the end of the twentieth century. Shadow bankingfinancial activity taking place outside existing regulatory frameworkshas grown so important that it now serves as the backbone of the entire system. The shadow banking system, however, is highly unstable and the main reason why the financial system has remained in crisis mode since the 2008 financial crisis. To maintain stability, central banks like the Fed and the European Central Bank have come to use radical new monetary policy instruments which were inconceivable until very recently. Without intervention on the part of central banks, existing financial systems would completely collapse.As Joscha Wullweber shows, there has been a radical change in the state-market nexus. With governments refraining from strong and comprehensive fiscal and financial regulatory policies, central banks have become the main stabilizing force and the nodal point of financ

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Book SynopsisDoyne Farmer is the world''s leading thinker on technological change. For decades he has focused on the question of how we can make sense of the data of today to see where the world is going tomorrow. This wonderful book applies these insights to economics, addressing the big global issues of environmental sustainability, and the well-being and prosperity of people around the world' Max Roser, Founder of Our World in DataWe live in an age of increasing complexity, where accelerating technology and global interconnection hold more promise and more peril than any other time in human history. As well as financial crises, issues around climate change, automation, growing inequality and polarization are all rooted in the economy, yet standard economic predictions fail us.Many books have been written about Doyne Farmer and his pioneering work in chaos and complexity theory. Making Sense of Chaos is the first in his own words, presenting a manifesto for doing economics better. In a tale of science and ideas, Farmer fuses his profound knowledge with stories from his life to explain how to harness a scientific revolution to address the economic conundrums facing society.Using big data and ever more powerful computers, we can for the first time apply complex systems science to economic activity, building realistic models of the global economy. The resulting simulations and the emergent behaviour we observe form the cornerstone of complexity economics. This new science, Farmer shows, will allow us to test ideas and make significantly better economic predictions and, ultimately, create a better world.

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Book SynopsisBlue Ocean Strategy, the #1 global bestseller, forever changed how the world thinks about strategy. Now W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne offer up a bold, new idea that will transform how we all think about innovation and growth.Disruption dominates innovation theory and practice. But disruption, for all its power, is destructive—displacing jobs, companies, and even entire industries. Are we missing an alternative approach to innovation and growth?With three decades of research, the #1 global bestselling authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, reveal another way to innovate and grow. Just as Blue Ocean Strategy redefined the essence of strategy as creating not competing, Beyond Disruption redefines and expands the existing view of innovation by introducing a new approach, nondisruptive creation, that is free from the destructive displacement that happens when innovators set out to disrupt.Kim and Mauborgne reveal the distinct advantages of nondisruptive creation to business and society, showing how this new approach to innovation allows companies to grow while also being a force for good. With examples that reach across all sectors of the economy and a practical framework for guiding innovation efforts, this book shows: Why nondisruptive creation matters to all of us and why it is likely to become even more important in the future How it complements disruption and how you can identify and execute on nondisruptive opportunities How companies can more thoughtfully pursue their growth and innovation strategies in a way that better balances business and society A practical guide for driving innovation and growth, the rich research behind the book, coupled with its frame-breaking message, make it the must-read book for the next generation of innovators.Trade ReviewNamed one of the best management books of 2023 by Børsen."I can't help but fall in love with Beyond Disruption. It's yet another masterpiece from Kim and Mauborgne that provides a fresh perspective on a popular business topic. The ideas presented in the book have the power to reshape our approach to growth and innovation, transforming how we view disruption moving forward." — Small Business TrendsAdvance Praise for Beyond Disruption:"Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne have done it again. Their first book, Blue Ocean Strategy, is a landmark in the field of strategy, beloved by business leaders worldwide. Now, Beyond Disruption presents new research for innovating and seizing growth opportunities without the social and human costs that often come with disruption and the displacement of jobs, people, companies, and industries. Nondisruptive creation is a pathbreaking new concept that shows leaders and innovators how business can be a force for good. This book will become a business classic." — Jake Cohen, Senior Associate Dean at the MIT Sloan School of Management"Few books are fascinating and theoretically important. Beyond Disruption is. Introducing a big new idea—Nondisruptive Creation—Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne once again have written an agenda-setting book. Reflecting their deep insight and decades of research, Beyond Disruption offers evidence that economies, industries, and companies can grow without leaving a wake of destruction in their path. A must-read for executives, policy makers and students alike." — Craig Hatkoff, Co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, Co-founder of the Disruptor Awards"Clay Christensen's seminal book, The Innovator's Dilemma, identifies the complacency of many major companies, too entrenched in their successful existing business models, that got disrupted from the low end by startup innovators who ate their lunch! Now, Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne take the contrasting view and brilliantly state the case for nondisruptive creation focusing not on existing businesses, but the opportunities presented by solving a brand new set of challenges whether it be space, climate change, or multiple areas not addressed by existing industries. The book offers an enlightened strategy for addressing the unmet needs of the 21st century which will lead imaginative thinkers to approach business with a whole new perspective." — Alan Patricof, Founder and Chairman of Primetime Partners, Chairman Emeritus of Greycroft LLC and Founder of Apax Partners"If you think disruption is important for our business and economy, you must read this book. Beyond Disruption by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne tells the missing half of the story that complements disruption. It offers an alternative approach to market-creating innovation through which economic growth can be achieved without destroying existing companies or jobs. It shows how innovation, growth, and society can move in lockstep. Beyond Disruption will be the innovation playbook for decades to come." — Warren Tuttle, a board member of the United States Intellectual Property Alliance"What Africa needs is a new generation of visionary leaders who understand innovation and how to transform the continent into a twenty-first century economic juggernaut. Beyond Disruption will serve as a blueprint and an indispensable tool for the next one hundred Mandela's who can integrate our many cultures and rich traditions with the challenges and opportunities of modernity." — Ndaba Mandela, Founder of the Mandela Institute for Humanity, author of Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela"Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne have tapped into a new global zeitgeist, reflecting a cultural moment as people around the world are searching for a new approach where economic and social good can move in lockstep. Reflecting their deep insight and decades of research, Beyond Disruption offers proof that economies, industries, and companies can grow, without leaving a wake of destruction in their path." — Elcin Barker Ergun, Chief Executive Officer of Menarini Group, a Top 50 Global Pharma Company"Beyond Disruption speaks to a whole new generation of leaders and innovators who believe that business can be a force for good. At last, a book that gives us the tools for creating economic and social value at the same time, lifting up societies through new jobs and game-changing growth opportunities for all. Introducing a big new idea—Nondisruptive Creation—Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne once again have written an agenda-setting book." — Heung Soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Global Strategy Office of Hyundai Motor Group

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Book SynopsisClosely examining how the news media reports economic and financial matters, this book equips students with solid methodological skills for reading and interpreting the news alongside a toolkit for best practice as an economic journalist. How to Read Economic News combines theory and practice to explore the discourse surrounding economics in the mass media and how this specialised form of reporting can be improved. Beginning by introducing major concepts such as financialised economic reporting, media amnesia and loss of trust, the book goes on to help students to interpret, understand and analyse existing news discourse and to identify subtle biases in news reports stemming from hegemonic belief systems. The final section puts this analytical knowledge into practice, providing students with methods for the critical production of news and covering such skills as identifying newsworthiness, story sourcing, achieving clarity, and using complex datasets in news stories. <Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables List of ContributorsChapter 1: Introduction – How to Read Economic NewsHenry SilkeFergal QuinnMaria Rieder Part I: Connecting economic theory, ideology and journalismChapter 2: Economic Imaginaries, Economics Theories And The Role Of Economic Journalism Hendrik TheineChapter 3: What can journalism learn from Heterodox EconomicsAndrea GrisoldChapter 4: Ideology, Economics and JournalismHenry SilkeChapter 5: Journalism Studies and Crises: Economic, Environmental and Political - Towards a political Economic Approach.Paschal PrestonPart II: Methodological approaches for evaluation of economy-related media outputChapter 6: Using Content Analysis to study Economic JournalismFergal QuinnMuireann PrendergastChapter 7: Analysing Economic News Sources: Who gets to speak? Henry SilkeChapter 8: Corpus Linguistics and Economic Media researchBrian ClancyElaine VaughanChapter 9: Breaking Down the Discourse, Exposing Power in Economic Journalism – Critical Discourse AnalysisMaria RiederHendrik TheineChapter 10: Deconstructing Economic Discourses on Broadcast NewsCiara GrahamBrendan O’RourkeChapter 11: Deconstructing Discourse: Applying Interview Research in the Economic NewsroomSophie KnowlesNadine StraußChapter 12: Researching Audiences: Understanding how economic news is receivedMike BerryPart III: News production: Best practices for investigating economic and business stories Chapter 13: Making sense of economic dataDonal PalcicDarragh FlanneryChapter 14: Economic news approachesAudrey GalvinBrian HurleyChapter 15: Where theory meets practice - tips for BETTER economic journalism Fergal QuinnMaria RiederHenry SilkeIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Indispensable."---Jesse Eisinger, New York Times"Crucial."---James Surowiecki, The New Yorker"The most important [book] to emerge from the crisis. . . . The authors achieve three things. First, they explain basic financial theory with simple examples that any moderately numerate individual can understand. Second, they show that these basic ideas apply, with modest differences, also to banking. Finally, they prove that, in opposing them, bankers and their apologists have spun intellectual raiment as invisible as the emperor's new clothes. . . . Read this book. You will then understand the economics. Once you have done so, you will also appreciate that we have failed to remove the causes of the crisis. Further such crises will come."---Martin Wolf, Financial Times"Powerful. . . . The authors persuasively argue that the solution is higher levels of equity capital throughout the banking industry to offset the impact of the implied government protections against failure." * The Economist *"Excellent."---Matthew Yglesias, Slate"Ms. Admati and Mr. Hellwig, top-notch academic financial economists, do understand the complexities of banking, and they helpfully slice through the bankers' self-serving nonsense. Demolishing these fallacies is the central point of The Bankers' New Clothes."---John Cochrane, Wall Street Journal"An important new book called The Bankers' New Clothes . . . offers what the Dodd-Frank legislation mostly lacked: a simple and elegant solution to the problem of financial stability. [Admati and Hellwig] argue that banks should fund themselves with more equity and less debt—or, to put it bluntly, that banks should risk more of their own money, and less of everyone else's."---Christopher Matthews, Time"Insightful."---Floyd Norris, New York Times"Important."---John Cassidy, The New Yorker"Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig convincingly make the case for much stronger and simpler borrowing limitations for banks."---Roger Alcaly, New York Review of Books"In a year of important books about the recent economic crisis, the most important one told us simply how to stop the next one." * Wall Street Journal *"The book pounds quite the drumbeat here: Force banks to borrow less (they should make up the difference through issuing more equity stock) and so inject sanity into the system."---Katharine Whittemore, Boston Globe"Admati and Hellwig have done something extraordinary. They took [banking] frustration and all its complex details and gave it a simple narrative, one that both explains what banks have been getting away with and what we might ask that Congress do about it."---Brendan Greeley, Bloomberg Businessweek"Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig are academics with a gift for taking the mind-numbing minutiae of banking and presenting it in a way that the average reader can understand. One by one, the self-serving protests of the banking industry against tougher regulations are lined up and struck down in The Bankers' New Clothes. . . . The authors map out the regulatory flaws that make it easy for debt-junkie bankers to get rich when times are good, and leave them hanging around protesting when times are worse thanks to their own recklessness."---Susan Antilla, Bloomberg News"Admati and Hellwig explain, in layman's terms, some of the silly arguments bankers make for keeping to the status quo and preventing any new regulation of the banks from ever being enacted. And they do a great job. . . . Admati and Hellwig have made a gift to you. You don't have to go wrestle with banks' financial statements or their annual reports or their 10Q's. You don't need to pull out your old accounting textbooks or call your college economics teacher to have her explain to you again why debt leverage increases risk. Admati and Hellwig have done all the hard work for you. But, you have to read their book."---John R. Talbott, Huffington Post"Anat 'gets' banking, and gets it better than most. The fact that she is ruffling feather relates more to the fact that she is questioning deeply held—yet hardly ever challenged—belief systems within the industry, than any lack of understanding."---Izabella Kaminska, FinancialTimes.com's Alphaville blog"This book's aim, decisively achieved, is to de-mystify the public conversation about banking so we can all understand how threadbare the industry is."---Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist"Admati and Hellwig offer a simple prescription for this complex world."---Thomas G. Donlan, Barron's"The Bankers' New Clothes makes a powerful case for why banks should stop borrowing so much."---Rana Foroohar, Time"Buy this book; read this book; give this book to your friends; discuss this book; act on this book."---Carol Hunt, Irish Sunday Independent"This is the most important book to have come out of the financial crisis. It argues, convincingly, that the problem with banks is that they operate with an order of magnitude too little equity capital, relative to their assets. Targeting return on equity, without consideration of risk, allows bankers to pay themselves egregiously, while making their institutions and the economy hugely unstable." * Financial Times *"The Bankers' New Clothes is wowing critics of fragile banks with a simple and attractive message: Force banks to have much thicker cushions of capital and you can make them safer without paying any cost in terms of higher interest rates, less lending, or lower economic growth."---Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek"Admati and Hellwig's analytical rigour is convincing. . . . The value of The Bankers' New Clothes is that it sets all out in clear and accessible terms over little more than 200 pages, without cutting corners."---George Hay, Reuters Breakingviews"The Bankers' New Clothes is a lucid exposition of the intellectual falsehoods deployed by banks to justify the ways in which they went about growing their business beyond any reasonable assessment of risk in the run-up of the crisis of 2008 and which they continue to peddle today. Admati and Hellwig cut through the debates about whether it was too little or too much regulation that was to blame, whether central banks could and should have acted faster, and the rights and wrongs of securitisation or separating commercial and investment banking, and go to the heart of the matter."---Will Hutton, New Statesman"[Admati and Hellwig] have done an admirable job in explaining how capital in the banking system works to absorb shocks, and how too little of it makes banks unstable." * The Economist *"The banks' argument that equity capital is expensive and that increasing equity capital would force them to pass up otherwise attractive lending opportunities has been systematically demolished, most notably by the academics Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig. In a new book they argue . . . that both the equity and debt of well capitalised banks are safer and thus cheaper, while a lower return is perfectly acceptable to investors in exchange for lower risk."---John Plender, Financial Times"[The Bankers' New Clothes is] a clearly written, sensible analysis of problems and cures for the U.S. banking system. . . . Admati and Hellwig take a lot of time to clearly explain the problems with depending too much on borrowed money."---Dale Singer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Thought provoking."---Heather Stewart, The Observer"One of the greatest strengths of this book is that it clearly explains the issues for the ordinary reader. Financial reform shouldn't be left solely to Wall Street bankers and their captured policymakers in Washington, D.C., to decide. Regular citizens must make their voices heard, and this book will help them understand the basic terminology and concepts. I encourage everyone with an interest in effective financial reform to pick up a copy today. This just might be the most important book of 2013."---John Reeves, Motley Fool"The authors have written the book for the enlightenment of the average reader who has no background in economics, finance or quantitative fields. But it can be read by anyone interested in banking--bankers, policy makers and researchers." * Business Standard *"Professor and journalist Admati and economic researcher Hellwig argue that it is possible to have a well-balanced banking system without any cost to society; weak regulations and lax enforcement is what caused the buildup of risk unleashed in the crisis. Here, they aim to demystify banking and expand the range of voices in the debate; encouraging people to form opinions and express doubts will ensure a healthier financial system as people understand the issues and influence policy. . . . The authors push for aggressive reform by outlining specific steps that can be taken to change our banking system for the better." * Publishers Weekly *"An important book for readers interested in what has been done, and what remains to be done, when it comes to safeguarding financial institutions." * Kirkus Reviews *"This title is a must read for management and human resource professionals within the banking industry as well as government policymakers. With its clear explanations, many examples, and analogies, the book is accessible to readers who do not have business backgrounds and who want to better understand banking." * Library Journal *"Admati and Hellwig don't just criticize bankers. The real strength of their book is that they walk their readers through the balance sheet and to a regulatory answer to the banking problem, an answer that's elegant in its simplicity and far-reaching in its potential to prevent and manage financial crises."---Randolph Walerius, Roll Call"Financial regulation has become a hot topic in the wake of the recent crisis; many complex proposals have ensued, and a dizzying array of new acronyms and agencies has emerged. But in their new book, Admati and Hellwig make a forceful case for a classic and simple solution to excessive, unregulated lending: higher capital ratios for banks." * Finance & Development *"The book deserves to be read by both bankers and policymakers as it debunks many of the myths that have been used to justify excessive leverage in banking." * Economic & Political Weekly *"Increasing capital is the most sure-fire way of improving financial stability. Indeed, a new book—The Bankers' New Clothes—cogently argues that equity/debt ratios in banks could and should be increased drastically to levels more like those of ordinary businesses."---Richard Saunders, Financial News"One can only hope that non-financial readers who want to improve the focus of their frustration will find their way to this book. Perhaps, then, policy-makers will start to feel pressure for smarter change."---Peter Morris, Financial World"[Admati's and Hellwig's] case that the banking industry still needs a shake-up is persuasive. And you have to admire their nerve in tackling the lobby head-on because, like the emperor in the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, it wears a smokescreen of competence and confidence. Attacking the illusion takes courage."---David Wilson, South China Morning Post"In simple and accessible terms, the authors show convincingly that banks are as fragile and destructive as they are, not because they must be, but because they want to be—and they get away with it." * Shanghai Daily *"[The Bankers' New Clothes] lays out the problems in banking revealed by the crisis and asks how to solve them. The authors, Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig draw upon accounts of the crisis and come up with some clear prescriptions based on what they see as the biggest problem—that banks are over-leveraged."---Nick Dunbar, NickDunbar.net"A clear and detailed call for banking reform. Arguing that the system is no safer today than before the financial crisis, the authors reject some bankers' and politicians' fears that further regulations would be too expensive and instead call for extensive change. Their starting place: Make banks responsible for their own mistakes." * Worth *"Offering a unique insight into banking from both an insider's and layman's perspectives, The Bankers' New Clothes is a welcome source of information in these unstable times."---Noori Passela, The National"Critical and refreshing. Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig are a formidable pair and systematically demolish all the bankers' arguments on risk, capital buffers, reserve requirements and the claims that no further reforms are required."---Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha"Admati and Hellwig walk banking neophytes slowly through how banking works, framing examples in a way that most people can understand: borrowing on a home. In very simple terms the authors explain how excess leverage is dangerous. Ironically, bankers are quick to point this out when examining someone else's credit prospects but not necessarily their own."---Douglas French, Freeman"Valuable. . . . This is a timely and interesting book and one that is squarely in the middle of the debate over the future of the nation's largest banks."---Christopher Whalen, National Interest"I've read almost all the major books on the financial crisis, and what makes this one of the best, if not the very best, is its simplicity and accessibility."---Emre Deliveli, Hurriyet Daily News"This excellent volume provides an invaluable lens through which to view modern banking and the ways it has evolved to privatize returns and socialize risks. . . . Admati and Hellwig provide an accessible explanation of the inherent risks in the current banking system and propose sensible rules and reforms to make the system stable without damaging bank lending or economic growth." * Choice *"The Bankers' New Clothes . . . stands out from the crowd. For one, it does not beat around the bush--it is clear and straight to the point in an industry usually heaving with jargon. By using language the man on the street can understand, this bold book leads quite literally by example as it reveals insights into the banking industry and why it is in such a mess."---Nina Roehrbein, Investment & Pensions Europe"This accessible look into complex financial theory is a must-read for anyone interested in the ongoing debate over regulatory reform and 'too big to fail.'"---Jeanine Skowronski, BankThink"The Bankers' New Clothes makes a simple, powerful argument: that banks need to raise more capital. It is entirely persuasive that the extent of their leverage makes the financial system fragile, and it clearly and patiently demolishes all the counter-arguments made by the banks and their lobbyists."---Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist"The authors write well in simple language any adult who reads English can understand, and then support each chapter with exhaustive endnotes for economists and to prove they are not making anything up; the banks really are as bad as they say, and we can fix it." * Reference & Research Book News *"[The Bankers' New Clothes] presents an interesting and fresh viewpoint. . . . The book's discussions about the weakness of free markets and capitalism make it highly relevant. . . . It also sheds light on the role of government and the elites in the formation of regulatory policies."---Hemant Kanakia, Economic & Political Weekly"In the growing literature on the 2007-08 financial crises, The Bankers' New Clothes is a significant addition. Admati and Hellwig identify low equity of banks as single most important cause of the crisis."---M. K. Datar, The Hindu"This is a great book; I hope that it is influential."---Charles Goodhart, Economica"Well worth reading."---Steven Pressman, Dollars & Sense"The text is well written and structured, and there is a good index to help the reader find the detail in both the text and the endnotes. . . . [As a] valuable contribution to debate and counterweight to opposing arguments, it is certainly most welcome."---Kevin Davis, Economic Record"The book pulls off the trick of explaining a lot of technical points about banking in highly accessible detail." * Fool's Gold *"Admati and Hellwig's work is groundbreaking both in its accessibility and its clarity."---Ross P. Buckley, Banking & Finance Law Review

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Book SynopsisIs economics a neutral scientific field, or is it riddled with eurocentric biases that stem from its origins in the development of capitalism, colonialism, and slavery? This book makes the case that economics cannot extricate itself from its highly problematic imperial context without a rigorous process of decolonization, which must involve questioning and re-assessing the development of the field and how it came to be represented as a universal and objective science. In doing so, argue the authors, we can challenge the existing intellectual hierarchies and show that the field as it stands now has become ill-equipped to tackle the critical questions of our time, such as structural racism, environmental crisis, informal labour relations and the role of power in shaping economic outcomes. A decolonized economics can help us pioneer alternative – and better – ways of understanding economic questions by introducing key interventions by non-Western thinkers and non-eurocentric theories. This is a critical guide for anyone intellectually curious to understand how economics can be decolonized and what can be learned from a decolonized economics.

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Book SynopsisThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Exploitation is a globally pervasive phenomenon. Slavery, serfdom, and the patriarchy are part of its lineage. Temporary and sex workers, commercial surrogacy, precarious labour contracts, sweatshops, and markets in blood, vaccines or human organs, are some contemporary manifestations of exploitation. What makes these exploitative transactions unjust? And is capitalism inherently exploitative? This book offers answers to these two questions. Nicholas Vrousalis argues that exploitation is a form of domination, self-enrichment through the domination of others. On the domination view, exploitation complaints are not, fundamentally, about harm, coercion or unfairness. Rather, they are about who serves whom and why. Exploitation, in a word, is a dividend of servitude: the dividend the powerful extract from the servitude of the vulnerable. Vrousalis claims that this servitude is inherent to capitalist relations between consenting adults whereby capital is monetary control over the labour capacity of others. It follows that capitalism, the mode of production where capital predominates, is an inherently unjust social structure.Trade ReviewIt is to the great credit of this book, and its author, that they focus attention on such questions, and provide a clear rationale for their pursuit. * Callum Zavos MacRae, The Philosophy Department, The Graduate Center, NY, United States *In Exploitation as Domination, Nicholas Vrousalis brings philosophical discussions of exploitation full circle back to capitalism. * Lillian Cicerchia, University of Amsterdam *The book makes a powerful case for the major conceptual connections that it proposes, and it will most likely serve in the years to come as both an instructive example of the rigor and breadth with which novel research in the philosophy of socialism can be conducted. * Callum Zavos MacRae, Res Publica *Vrousalis' book brings us to the brink of [...] a revived critique of political economy, rather than a new theory of distributive justice. * Lillian Cicerchia, Economics & Philosophy *It is to the great credit of this book, and its author, that they focus attention on such questions, and provide a clear rationale for their pursuit. * Callum Zavos MacRae, Res Publica *This book explores the conceptual interrelationships between human "exploitation" and "domination." ...This book is extremely well written and well organized. * Choice *Table of ContentsTable of Contents List of Figures and Tables Introduction Background 1: Theories of Exploitation Theory 2: Domination at Work 3: How Exploiters Dominate 4: Structural Domination in the Market Applications 5: Capitalist Exploitation: Its Forms, Origin, and Fate 6: Exploitation and International Relations Alternatives 7: The Emancipated Economy References

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Book SynopsisThe problem of rent is at the root of vital social concerns in the twenty-first century, ranging from the climate emergency and spiralling economic inequality to the repercussions of global economic crises. But while many of us may be familiar with rent (especially paying it), how should we really understand it? Examining both concrete contexts and complex concepts, in this book Joe Collins provides a comprehensive but concise survey of the theories and debates over rent and rentier capitalism. He examines global gentrification from São Paolo to Dublin, the tyranny of technology from Taipei to San Francisco, and the excesses of extractivism from Sekondi to Karratha. In doing so, he reveals how rent is fundamental to the current dominant form of capitalist social organization across the globe and how we can prevent the next generation from seeing our societies rent asunder. An essential resource for students and scholars alike, this groundbreaking book will be of interest to anyone working on capitalism, property, political economy, economic sociology and contemporary politics.Trade Review‘From twenty-first-century techno-patents to landlord sex scams, rentier capitalism tightens its grip on everyday life. In this short book, Joe Collins unpacks the multiple meanings of rent as these evolved through traditional economics to contemporary political economy. A lucid and compassionate account.’Ariel Salleh, Global University for Sustainability, Hong Kong ‘As rents become ever more important and rentiers become ever more powerful, this book provides an important theoretical underpinning to the idea of rent as a cause and consequence of monopoly. Contemporary capitalism cannot be understood without this.’Jayati Ghosh, University of Massachusetts AmherstTable of ContentsChapter 1 – What is rent? Chapter 2 – Rent theory in historical perspective Chapter 3 – Mainstream rent theory Chapter 4 – Rent theory in modern political economy Chapter 5 – Why is rent important today? Notes References

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Selected for Askblog’s Books of the year 2017"

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Book SynopsisFriedrich Hayek was one of the leading economists of the 20th century and the leading contemporary critic of Keynes. He did pioneering work on monetary theory and trade cycles, but achieved international fame through his 1944 critique of totalitarian socialism, The Road to Serfdom.He went on to map out the principles of a free society in a series of books including Law, Legislation and Liberty and became the leading proponent, along with Milton Friedman, of economic and political liberalism.Setting him in context as well as incorporating criticism since his death 20 years ago, this book explores several major areas of Hayek''s thought and argument:- why society is not something that can be rebuilt any way we want, but is the result of long-term cultural evolution, and what that means for political reform, morality and individual choice- the kind of laws that true freedom relies upon, and how freedom and its benefits are threatened by political confusions- how the market process really works: from maximising gains for everyone who participates, to competition as a discovery process- where boom and bust cycles come from and how privatising currencies could be the startling solution- how we actually interpret our world, and what this means for social sciences and politics- why socialism was a mistake, capitalism isn''t wasteful, and what economic organisation has to do with political destiny- the impossibility of social justice but the genuine hope offered by true economic freedom- what the real foundations of a free society look like.A breath of intellectual fresh air, this concise guide to Friedrich Hayek is a must for any reader or student interested in one of the most vital minds of the 20th century.

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